Notes: OGJ
data show thatS-Oil
Corp.'s refinery in Onsan, South Korea, moved to No. 4 from No. 7 in 2011 on
the strength of raising its crude capacity to 669,000 b/cd from 564,000 b/cd.
And Marathon Petroleum Co. LLC's Garyville, La., plant moved to No. 11 from No.
13 after raising its crude capacity to 522,000 b/cd from 490,000 b/cd – please see my previous post "World's
Top 21 Largest Oil Refineries – OGJ," Feb 7, 2012. Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has 1.24
million barrels per day of crude processing capacity [i.e. No. 5 Jamnagar + No.
7 Jamnagar, above], the largest at any single location in the world – please
see RIL's website here – D.R.
For 2012, OGJ's survey data show total global
capacity at slightly less than 89 million b/cd with no net gain in the number
of plants. That's a growth of more than 700,000 b/cd from 2011. The data also
show Western Europe continuing to lose plants, one more in 2012 after two
closed in 2011; total capacity has fallen by more than 400,000 b/cd. North
America's held in number, while capacity data even advanced, mostly with
completion of a huge expansion at a Southeast Texas refinery [i.e., Motiva's Port Arthur, Texas, refinery--please see below - D.R.]—that almost
immediately was forced to close for up to a year to deal with the effects of
faulty design. New data for Asian refineries, however, show total regional
capacity grew by more than 700,000 b/cd; Middle Eastern refineries, with
several new plants and expansions under way, officially remained level with
capacities for 2011. – Please read Warren R. True and Leena Koottungal,
"Asia, Middle East Lead Modest Recovery in Global Refining," OGJ,
Dec 3, 2012. South Korea is home to three of
the five largest crude oil refineries in the world – SK Innovation's Ulsan (No.
2), GS Caltex's Yeosu (No. 3) and S-Oil's Onsan (No. 4), according to OGJ
data above.*By far the
biggest refining story in North America in 2012 centered on the massive
expansion at Motiva Enterprise LLC's Port Arthur, Texas refinery. The
325,000-b/d, $10 billion expansion, largest at a US refinery in nearly 40 years
and designed for feedstock flexibility, was dedicated on May 31, raising
capacity to 600,000 b/d, making it the largest US refinery and pushing ExxonMobil's Baytown refinery to No. 2 in the USA. On June 9, 2012,
however, the new crude distillation unit sprung leaks traced to massive
corrosion; a fire ensued and the expansion was shut down. Motiva has since
traced the problem to faulty design. The unit will not restart before the end
of first-quarter 2013, if then. Motiva Enterprises is a refining and marketing
joint venture owned by affiliates of Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Saudi Aramco---please see Warren
R. True and Leena Koottungal, "Asia, Middle East lead modest recovery
inglobal refining,"OGJ, Dec 3, 2012 - D.R.

**In February 2012, Hovensa LLC shut down its
350,000-b/d St. Croix, US Virgin Islands, refinery. The location is now an oil
storage site. Operated by a joint venture of Hess Corp. and PDVSA, the state-owned oil company of Venezuela, the refinery
could not stem losses in recent years---Warren R. True and Leena Koottungal, "Asia, Middle East lead modest recovery inglobal refining,"OGJ, Dec 3, 2012 - D.R..